This morning at Advent Lutheran Church (ELCA) we continued the Discovering Joy series.
Sermon
My message, “Do You Know?” is based on Philippians 3:1-14 & Matthew 16:24-25.
You can watch below or read the manuscript.
Excerpt
This week, during a Tuesday morning television interview, President Donald Trump said, “I wanna try and get to heaven if possible. I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I am really at the bottom of the totem pole.”[1]
To repeat, the American President said, “I wanna try and get to heaven if possible.”
This unsolicited and largely unexpected comment was greeted by responses varying from laughter to wonderment to thankfulness.
Later that day the White House Press Secretary shared that she not only believed the President’s remark was sincere, but that his aspiration to get into heaven should be shared by everyone in the room.[2]
Mr. President, I assure you that getting to heaven and experiencing eternal life is possible. And, I think today’s readings offer a wonderful place to begin not only for the President, but for all of us here in this room and those joining us online.
This is my penultimate sermon as your interim pastor – and, yes, that’s just a fancy word for second to last. It is my final traditional message before I offer parting words next Sunday. So, it is an ideal time to get back to the basics.
This focus on the fundamentals is how we started our fourteen-month journey together. You may remember the first two sermon series I preached here at Advent were The Jesus Priorities and Fruitful Practices. The first was a series on what Jesus said and did and how that should inform what we say and do while the second was focused on what it is that followers of the Way of Jesus should do together in the context of their local church.[3]
And, now, we end as we began, by exploring the basics of the Christian faith.
In Philippians 3, Paul reflects on his own journey. If anyone could have claimed to be “doing well,” it was Paul. He lists his credentials: circumcised on the eighth day, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, righteous under the law.
Put in today’s language, Paul was born into privilege. He inherited the right identity, the right connections, and the right social standing. And, over the years, he had played by the system’s rules so well that he found his way to the top of the totem pole.
But now, now Paul is proclaiming loudly that he counts all of his significance – all of his privilege – all of his social status as loss for the sake of Christ. And, he wants the whole world to know that rather than boasting in himself and his former status he now boasts in knowing Christ.
I wonder . . . do you know Christ?
[1] Kinsey Crowley. “Trump wants to go to heaven for ending the war in Ukraine. What religion is he?,” USA Today, August 21, 2025, www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/21/trump-heaven/85754921007/
[2] Meredith Kile. “Trump Says He Wants to ‘Try and Get to Heaven if Possible’: ‘I’m Hearing I’m Not Doing Well, ‘August 19, 2025, people.com/trump-says-he-wants-to-get-to-heaven-if-possible-11793929?
[3] The Jesus Priorities was based on a book by the same title written by Christopher Maricle while the Fruitful Practices was based on a book titled Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations by Robert Schnase.